Nigerian Influencers featuring Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele.

Nigerian Influencers featuring Godwin Emefiele Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor

ICMS, Inc. Reports 
By Tom Okure, Ph.D.

Godwin Emefiele is presently Nigeria’s Central Bank's (CBN) Governor. He has been in the position since June 4, 2014. Born on August 1961 in Lagos State, Nigeria, Emefiele is originally from Ika South,

Godwin Emefiele Governor
of CBN since June 4, 2014

Agbor region of Delta State. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Finance (1984) and an MBA in Finance (1986), both from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also an alumnus of Executive Education at Stanford University, Harvard University (2004) and Wharton School of Business (2005). He was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

Before he joined the CBN, he worked as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank PLC, one of Nigeria’s biggest banks with over 7,000 staff, about $3.2 billion in shareholders’ funds, and subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, South Africa, China, and the UK. Prior to his banking career, he lectured in finance and insurance in two Nigerian universities. He holds degrees in banking and finance from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

During his first term, he oversaw a currency interventionist policy on behalf of the Nigerian presidency, strengthening the Nigerian Naira by putting in billions of dollars into the foreign exchange market. He also began a multiple exchange rate regime designed to reduce pressure on the Naira and avoid a series of devaluations. In 2019, the Senate approved him for a second five-year term making him the first person to serve for a second term since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy.